A Coward Caught Amongst the Brave
by dork-with-glasses
Summary: He was a coward. A wimpy child, a frightened teenager and an anxious adult. He wasn't ready to die yet so he chose the easy way out. He chose his life over his friends' lives. But Peter Pettigrew wasn't evil.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (or Peter Pettigrew for that matter)**

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Peter Pettigrew wasn't evil.

He didn't have the drive or the nature to be.

He honestly wasn't capable of being evil.

Peter Pettigrew wasn't a good person, he betrayed his friends after all.

But it wasn't because he was evil. He was just scared.

As a child, teenager and adult, he may not have been the brightest candle in the hall but he wasn't a bad person. He was just a wimpy, frightened, anxious guy.

He did terrible things, yes, everyone would agree with that. But he didn't do them because he wanted to. _He_ certainly didn't want Lily and James_ dead_, they were his friends after all, he just had to choose between his life and theirs.

He chose his.

Peter Pettigrew wasn't wise and intelligent enough to be in Ravenclaw.

Peter Pettigrew didn't have the honestly or the work ethic to be in Hufflepuff.

Peter Pettigrew certainly didn't have the cunning or the ambition to be a Slytherin

And Peter Pettigrew didn't have the courage to be a Gryffindor.

So where did the Sorting Hat put him?

Peter Pettigrew was put in Gryffindor because that's what he wanted to be.

He _wanted_ to be brave, bold, courageous and chivalrous. But, as his wimpy, frightened personality was trying to tell him, he could never be like this because when it came to down to it, he did things in the quickest, easiest, least painful way possible.

When things got tough and he was given a difficult choice, Peter Pettigrew chose the easy way out.

What would you expect?

He wasn't compassionate like Lily.

He wasn't brave like James.

He wasn't funny like Sirius.

He wasn't smart like Remus.

He wasn't anything. He was just an extra member of the group. He wasn't needed, or so he felt and so when someone offered him a different life or death, he chose the course to save his own skin.

Peter Pettigrew didn't feel particularly good about telling the Dark Lord about James and Lily's whereabouts. It didn't fill him with the pleasure that most Death Eaters would have felt if they had pleased the Dark Lord, but it didn't exactly fill him with guilt either.

He'd chosen to live, and was glad he did so, and now he'd just have to live with the consequences, both good and bad.

Because when it came down to it, he valued his own life, over the lives of others.

Peter Pettigrew was a coward.

That's all there was to it.

He didn't choose to become a Death Eater because he was power hungry, believed in pure-blood supremacy or even because he needed someone to follow.

Peter Pettigrew joined the Death Eaters because he was scared

What was he scared of? Why he was scared of never being good enough for his friends, fighting on a side that might lose, but most of all he was scared of dying.

He was young. He wasn't ready to die yet. He wanted to see the rest of the world and settle down with a family. He wasn't ready to end his life then and there.

To him, joining Voldemort was the only option.

It was because he was scared, frightened and didn't know any other opinions.

To Peter it was clear; his friends' lives or his.

There were no buts, ifs or maybes running through his head as he agreed to become a Death Eater. There was only a wish that he would not die so young, like his friends were sure to do soon.

He was a coward, through and through.

Peter Pettigrew chose the easy way out.

But he wasn't evil.

He was just a coward in a group full of brave, courageous people.

He didn't fit in.

There was an easier way out, a _safer_ way out.

He chose it. He chose his life.

Peter Pettigrew wasn't evil.

He just wasn't brave enough to stand up for what was right. He just didn't stand up for what he should have.

Peter Pettigrew was a coward.

And there was nothing anyone could do about it.**

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****Author's note: I hope you all enjoyed this story and I would greatly appreciate a review from you. Whether you think it is good or bad is irrelevant, I just want to know your opinion. **

**The idea came into my head after a chat with my mum and sister and we talked about how none of us thought Peter was evil. He was just a humongous coward and chose his own life over his friends' lives. **

**Thanks for reading! I really do appreciate it.**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


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